Chapter 5 shared one such situation. There was a couple, Ananias and his wife Sapphira, who sold some property. Remember, there was no rule making them do that nor a rule stating how much of the money they were to give. He and his wife agreed they would give some of the money but also keep some. After the sale, Ananias brought some of the money to the apostles saying it was the full amount.
Peter asked Ananias why he let Satan fill his heart by keeping some of the money and not telling the truth. He asked him why he would lie to the Holy Spirit. He reminded him he didn't have to sell the property or even give any money to the apostles but that he chose to but then lied. In reality, he had not lied to them but to God. Peter asked him how he could do such a thing.
When Ananias heard what Peter said, he fell down dead. Everyone who heard what happened was terrified. Some young men came in and wrapped his body in a sheet, removed him and buried him.
About three hours later Sapphira came in but had not heard what happened to her husband. Peter asked her if what they had given was the full amount they received from the sale of their property and she said it was. Peter questioned her as well asking how the two of them could conspire to test the Holy Spirit in such a way. He told her the young men that carried Ananias out and buried him would do the same with her and instantly, she fell dead. The young men came and carried her out and buried her next to her husband. Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what happened.
What seems to stand out might be the question of Ananias and Sapphira's motives. They didn't have to sell anything and if they did, they didn't have to give any money to the apostles. Perhaps it was peer pressure to be like the other believers or maybe by giving "all" they were paid, they would appear better than most of the others. They most likely thought they could get away with their lies but God exposed them. They could have easily told the apostles they were only giving half the money and that would have been fine but what motivated them to lie?
God would not tolerate sin in this church, as well as the greater church of believers. He punished Ananias and Sapphira as an example that He was and is displeased with sin in the church, particularly dishonesty. If they had gotten away with their lie, what would that mean for the church and God? What if they did get away with the lie but the one who purchased their land told everyone they had not given the full amount as they said they had. How would it make God look? It would portray a church of God in which people lie. It would make it look like those Christians were no better than any pagan. It would bring dishonor to God and set a precedence that you could get away with dishonesty and give others cause to consider doing the same thing.
The apostles went on performing more miraculous signs and wonders among the people. They and all the believers met regularly at Solomon's Colonnade at the Temple. All the people had great regard for them but were afraid to join them. I imagine it was well known the religious leaders were out to stop them and had threatened them. Even with the existence of such fear, crowds of men and women were brought to the Lord. As a result of what they were doing, the sick were brought out into the streets hoping Peter's shadow would fall on them and heal them. Crowds of those who were sick and those who were possessed by evil spirits were brought from all over and were healed.
Obviously, the apostles had great favor with the people. Obviously, the name of Jesus was being praised as they did all they did in His name. Obviously, Jesus was growing in the hearts and minds of the people. This filled the high priest and his officials with jealousy.
They reacted on their jealousy by having the apostles arrested and put in jail.
That night, an angel of the Lord came and led them out of the jail and instructed them to go to the Temple and give the people the message of life, which was the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At daybreak, the apostles entered the Temple and did as they were instructed and began teaching. When the high priest arrived they convened the "high" council (which was the full assembly of the elders of Israel) and ordered the apostles be brought to them for trial. The guards went to get the apostles but although the jail was locked and guards were all around, the apostles were gone. To me, it tells us, no matter how securely the world attempts to disrupt God's plan, it will never succeed. God wanted the apostles to teach the Good News of Jesus as Savior and Messiah and nothing would or ever has stopped it.
The guards came back and told the Captain of the Guard and the leaders what happened. They were perplexed and wondered, "Where would this all end?" Maybe they saw there was nothing they could do to control this movement of believers. Maybe they wondered if the people would stop obeying them or stop going to Temple. We may have the answer to that question ourselves. Where would it all end? God's will is that all be saved and at the leading of Jesus Christ we are all working that His will be done.
The guards again arrested the apostles without violence for fear the people would stone them. The apostles were brought before the high council and were questioned. They demanded, "Didn't we tell you never again to teach in this man's name? (He was careful to not even use the name of Jesus in that sentence and the next) Then he said, "Instead, you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching about him, and you want to make us responsible for his death!"
Wow. I am shocked they did't think they were responsible for Jesus' death. What were they thinking? They must have blamed the Romans while it was them who lied and pushed for Jesus' crucifixion. They must have been believing their own lies. I might guess even the apostles were shocked and thought how foolish the comment was about Jesus' death not being their fault.
Peter responded by saying, "We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you killed Him by hanging Him on a cross. Then God put Him in the place of honor at His right hand as Prince and Savior.
Let me interrupt Peter for a moment. His words speak to all of us and for all of us, in that, "we all must obey God rather than humans." We have to stand strong for God as the apostles did and not back down to pressure from man to shut up about Jesus and what He offers everyone. Peter clarified that they did kill Jesus by causing Him to be crucified. He made it clear that Jesus was resurrected and that He was brought back to life by God. Not only did He raise Jesus from the dead, He placed Him at the place of honor at His right hand. That must have made them furious. They hated Jesus maybe because He was getting all this honor and glory while they got nothing. Many of the religious leaders were in it to gain fame and fortune.
Remember Matthew 23:1-7 NLT; Then Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples, "The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don't follow their example. For they don't practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called Rabbi."
These are the things they did not want to lose and Jesus was jeopardizing all their fame and honor. They wanted to be in the places of honor and perhaps wanted to be seen as seated at the right hand of God.
Peter continued, "He did this so the people of Israel would repent of their sins and be forgiven. We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey Him."
The high council became furious and decided to kill them. It seemed to be a popular method for them to deal with such people. However, one of the pharisees named Gamaliel, spoke up. He was an expert in religious law and was well respected and ordered the apostles be sent outside the chambers for a while.
He warned the council to be careful about what they were planning to do. He told them of
Theudas who "pretended" to be someone great and gained 400 followers. He was eventually killed and his followers disbanded. He also spoke of Judas of Galilee. He got people to follow him too but was also killed and his followers disbanded too. Nothing became of either of their movements.
Considering the outcome of those two, he advised they leave the apostles alone and should they be pretenders, they would most likely experience the same fate. However, he explained, "But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God!"
This spoke volumes to me. It was clearly great advice and what he said has played out. The movement did not go away. It did not disband. All of the apostles eventually died. Some were killed while the death of others is not known, but the truth of Christ kept on going. The truth is the work of Christ was not simply in the hands of men, it was truly in the hands of God and it was He who orchestrates all things to this very day. Jesus Christ and the Good News He brings will never be silenced nor driven off. Clearly (as Gamaliel expressed) it is of God and those who resist or attempt to extinguish it are fighting against God.
The leaders accepted his advice, brought the apostles in and flogged them. They demanded they never speak in the name of Jesus again, ever. Then they released them.
The apostles left, rejoicing they were worthy enough to suffer for Jesus. They did not listen to the religious leaders and taught in the Temple and went house to house daily preaching, "Jesus is the Messiah!"